Brake-beam.



" No. 784,839. PATENTED MAR. 14, 1905.

S. A. CRONE.

BRAKE BEAM.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 1., 1904.

INVENTOR SeZYwZ Crone I ATTORNEY Patented March 14:, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE,

SETH A. CRONE, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y.

BRAKE-BEAM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 784,839, dated March14, 1905. Application filed October 1, 1904. Serial No. 226,790.

To all 1.0700712, it may concern:

Be it known that I, SETH A. CRoNE, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brake-Beams, ofwhich the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in brake-beams for railway-cars;and it consists in the features of construction hereinafter described,and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Brake-beams'of the class to which my invention pertains comprise arolled body-beam of suitable length, brake-heads of standardconstruction on the ends thereof, and a fulcrum for the brakelever; andmy invention has for its object to produce a novel fulcrum for use insuch beams, said fulcrum being of forged metal bent to the requiredshape and .adapted to be firmly riveted or bolted to the body-beam.

Forged-metal fulcrums of the class to which my invention pertains areshown and claimed in Letters Patent of the United Statesnumbered,respectively,720, 676 and 720, 677,grant ed to me on February17, 1903, and No. 731,668, granted to me on June 23, 1903.

The present invention is confined to a special construction incross-section of the sides of'the fulcrum adjacent to the flange of thebod y-beam, these sides at their outer diagonally opposite edges in saidlocation being thicker than said sides at their other or innerdiagonally opposite edges, where the metal of said sides curves inwardlywithin the plane of the said flange for the purpose of enabling thesides of the fulcrum to stand at an angle of about forty degrees to theperpendicular, the result being that the fulcrum sides possess a maximumdegree of strength in those portions thereof called upon to offer thegreatest resistance.

The invention will be fully understood from the detailed descriptionhereinafter presented, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,in which- Figure 1 is an edge view of a fulcrum constructed inaccordance with and embodying my invention, the fulcrum being shown assecured to a usual body-beam, the latter being in section on the dottedline 1 1 of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly broken away, of abrake-beam equipped with the fulcrum embracing my invention. Fig. 3 is adetached perspective view of the fulcrum. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectionof same on the dotted line 4 4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a transverse sectionof same on the dotted line 5 5 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 6 is an enlarged edgeview showing diagrammatically the outline of a portion of one of thethick diagonally opposite edges of the fulcrum sides.

In the drawings, 10 designates a portion of the usual body-beam, and 11the fulcrum of my invention, which is applied centrally on one edge ofthe beam, the latter preferably being of commercial I shape. The fulcrum11 may be in either one or two pieces of forged metal, as shown anddescribed in the aforesaid Letters Patent, and comprises in any eventtwo sides 14 15, having at their inner ends the flanges 16, 17, and 18,while intermediate the flanges 18 and the outer end of the fulcrum thesaid sides are apertured, as at 19, to receive the brake-lever pin in acustomary well-known manner. The sides let 15 are of forged metal, andsaid sides may both be formed from one bar, as in making a one-piecefulcrum, or from two bars, as in the manufacture of a two-piece fulcrum,bothforms of fulcrum being well known and disclosed in the aforesaidLetters Patent No. 731,668.

The novel features sought to be protected hereby consist in theformation in cross-scetion of those portions of the sides I L 15comprised in or adjacent to the flanges 17 18, this cross sectionalformation. being illustrated more definitely in Figs. 3,4, 5, and 6, inwhich it will be seen that at the outer diagonally opposite edges 20 20of the sides 14: 15, the metal of said sides is perceptibly thicker thanthe metal at the other or inner diagonally opposite edges 21 21 of saidsides. The flanges 18 are somewhat of triangular form and curve inwardlywithin the horizontal plane of the flange of the beam 10, and along thisinwardly-turned portion of the flanges 18 the metal is thinner than itis at the outer edges 20 20 of the said flanges, where the metal doesnot materially turn under or within the horizontal plane of the I-beamflange. The flanges 18 by turning inwardly on substantially triangularlines enables the setting of the fulcrum sides at an angle of aboutforty degrees to the perpendicular, which is the proper setting thatthey should have to receive the brake-lever, and when the fulcrum isinuse the direct outward strain is more directly taken by the diagonallyopposite portions 20 of said flanges 18, because said portions have notthe inward curves, but more nearly extend di.- rectly outwardly from theedges of the bodybeam flange, said portions 20 not necessarily beingabsolutely straight, but not possessing the pronounced inward curvesrepresented by the other diagonally opposite portions 21 21 of theflanges 18. The said diagonally opposite portions 20 20 are therefore ofincreased thickness, commencing from about the point 22 and extending toabout the point 23, and a cross-section of the sides 14 15 through saidflanges 18 would represent the metal as gradually tapering in thicknessfrom the edge portions 20 to the other diagonally opposite edge portions21, as shown in Fig. 5. By reason of this construction the effectiveresisting strength of the fulcrum sides when under the tension exertedagainst them by the brakelevcr may be as great on a transverse linethrough the flanges 18 as it is on a transverse line through thebrakelever-pin holes 15). WVhen the metal in the fulcrum sides is giventhe triangular form represented by the flanges 18, an outward pulldirected against the broader side edges of said flanges would tend tostraighten the flanges out; but with the thickened portions 20, providedat diagonally opposite points and at the straighter edges of the fulcrumsides, the fulcrum is enabled without excessive weight of metal thereinto efli ciently resist the action of the brake-lever, and consequentlythe availability and efliciency of the fulcrum as a whole may be reliedupon. The thicker portions of the fulcrum sides adjacent to the flanges17 18 are therefore loc: ted. at the straighter edges of said sides andat diagonally opposite points, while the thin portions of the fulcrumsides adjacent to said flanges'are also at diagonally opposite points,but at the inward bends of the said flanges 18. The features sought tobe protected hereby consist, therefore, in having the metal along thediagonally opposite portions 20 of greater thickness than the metalalong diagonally opposite portions 21 and preferably in having the metalgradually taper from said portions 20 toward said portions 21, and thisfeature of the structure is of course equally applicable to a one-pieceor a two-piece forged-metal fulcrum of the class to which my inventionpertains. The thickening of the metal along the diagonally oppositeportions 20 of the fulcrum sides may be produced by upsetting orotherwise, and the thinness of the metal along the inner diagonallyopposite portions 21 is produced by stretching the metal in theformation of or preparatory to the formation of said flanges 18.

The fulcrum shown is made from aforgedmetal bar of initially uniformWidth and thickness, and hence the outer diagonally opposite portions 20of the fulcrum sides are thicker than the remaining portions of the bar,and the inner diagonally opposite portions 21 are thinner than theremaining portions of the bar, and the increased thickness of the saidportions 20 compensates for the decreased thickness of the portions 21.

hat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The forged-metal brake-beam fulcrum comprising the angnlarly-disposedsides having at their inner ends the flanges 17, 18, with means forsecuring said sides to the bodybeam, said flanges 18 being ofsubstantially triangular shape and the metal in said sides about saidflanges 18 being thicker at the outer diagonally opposite portions 20than at the inner diagonally opposite portions 21; substantiall y as setforth.

2. The forged-metal brake-beam fulcrum comprising the angularly-disposedsides having at their inner ends the flanges 17, 18, With means forsecuring said sides to the body beam, said flanges 18 being ofsubstantially triangular shape and the metal in said sides about saidflanges 18 being thicker at the outer diagonally opposite portions 20than at the inner diagonally opposite portions 21, and graduallytapering from the edges of said portions 20 to the edges of saidportions 21; substantially as set forth.

3. The forged-metal brake-beam fulcrum comprising the angularly-disposedsides having at their inner ends the flanges 16, 17 and 18, said flanges18 being of substantially triangular shape and the metal in said sidesabout said flanges 18 being thicker atthe outer diagonally oppositeportions 20 than at the other portions of said sides, and the metal atthe inner diagonally opposite portions 21 about said flanges 18 beingthinner than the metal in the remaining portions of said sides;substantially asset forth.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and Stateof New York, this30th day of September, A. D. 1904:.

SETH A. ORONE.

Witnesses:

Ci-iAs. (J. GILL, ARTHUR MARION ICC

